President Donald Trump is expected to announce that he will end protections for young immigrants who were brought into the country illegally as children, but with a six-month delay.

The delay in the formal dismantling of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca) programme would be intended to give Congress time to decide whether it wants to address the status of the so-called Dreamers in legislation.

But it was not immediately clear how the six-month delay would work in practice and what would happen to people who currently have work permits under the programme, or whose permits expire during the six-month stretch.

It also was unclear exactly what would happen if Congress failed to pass a measure by the considered deadline.

The president, who has been grappling with the issue for months, has been known to change his mind in the past and could still shift course.

(Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Mr Trump has been wrestling for months with what to do about the Obama-era Daca programme, which has given nearly 800,000 young immigrants a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the form of two-year, renewable work permits.

The White House faces a Tuesday deadline set by Republican state officials threatening to continue sue the Trump administration if the president did not end the programme.

The deadline comes as Mr Trump digs in on appeals to his base as he finds himself increasingly under fire, with his poll ratings at near-record lows.

Mr Trump had been personally torn as late as last week over how to deal with what are undoubtedly the most sympathetic immigrants living in the US illegally.

Many came to the US as young children and have no memories of or connections to the countries they were born in.